putting dry hydro head on engine, do I need to prime it?

[chrissev]

Just wondering, when I put a dryed out hydro cylinder head on my engine, do I need to prime the head before I start the engine?  The head has no oil in it at all.  It has been sitting for a while.  It is hydraulic (like I said before)

thanks,

Chris

[jtanguay]

i'm pretty sure certain parts need special lubes (for a rebuild).  I would definitely say lube it up before you run it dry. (who knows what parts could be seized, or even if rust has begun to eat the insides)

[chrissev]

i'm pretty sure certain parts need special lubes (for a rebuild).  I would definitely say lube it up before you run it dry. (who knows what parts could be seized, or even if rust has begun to eat the insides)

doubt that it's rusty.  I just think it might not have any oil in it and since it has hydraulic lifters I was wondering if the valves will work without any oil.  As soon as the engine runs, the lifters will get oil but right off when I start it and it cranks a few times, there will be no oil there.

[DieselMonkey]

If you remove timing belt and put an air ratchet with socket on the intermediate shaft and run it anti clockwise, looking under the rocker cover you will see oil being forced around the tappets. I did this with my 1.9 that had been sitting for over 9 months without a start. Worked good. I think Jake and others have a different method by removing the vacuum pump and engaging on the oil pump drive shaft with a special tool attached to a drill perhaps. I think its worth doing. Cant do any real harm if you only keep the pressure on for 10 seconds or so. Just wonder if it would open the oil squirters, heavy cold oil Think they have an opening pressure of 30psi.

regards, Matt

[jwspin]

we used to hand prime hydro lifters for subarus, just put em in some oil and start pumpin..

-jared

[LeeG]

This may not apply to the VW lifters as I havent had a close look at one, but my experince with old domestic iron V8s is that a lifter that is empty and in the compressed position wont fill with oil even if you prime the oil system with a drill - unless you turn the engine over so that the pressure is released on each lifter in turn.  But an empty lifter on startup never did any harm, just made some noise 'till it filled.  Worn out lifters leak down overnight anyway.  Most lifters have less internal travel than the cam profile so your valves will be opening, just not very much.

An engine rebuilder I used to deal with had made up a fitting that screwed onto an oil filter flange and connected via hoses to a tank full of oil that could be pressurised with air.  I never saw it in use, but I imagine a few seconds of that while cranking engine with ingition off was the procedure.
Think you would need to be careful with the pressure used and not to overfill the crank with this setup though.

In your situation, I would lube each cylinder before putting head on, dump some oil over the cam before valve cover on, then crank the engine a bit with the fuel solenoid disconnected. Then fire it up.

[fspGTD]

Sure sounds like a good idea!  How to do it:

http://www.vwdiesel.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1786

[chrissev]

This may not apply to the VW lifters as I havent had a close look at one, but my experince with old domestic iron V8s is that a lifter that is empty and in the compressed position wont fill with oil even if you prime the oil system with a drill - unless you turn the engine over so that the pressure is released on each lifter in turn.  But an empty lifter on startup never did any harm, just made some noise 'till it filled.  Worn out lifters leak down overnight anyway.  Most lifters have less internal travel than the cam profile so your valves will be opening, just not very much.

An engine rebuilder I used to deal with had made up a fitting that screwed onto an oil filter flange and connected via hoses to a tank full of oil that could be pressurised with air.  I never saw it in use, but I imagine a few seconds of that while cranking engine with ingition off was the procedure.
Think you would need to be careful with the pressure used and not to overfill the crank with this setup though.

In your situation, I would lube each cylinder before putting head on, dump some oil over the cam before valve cover on, then crank the engine a bit with the fuel solenoid disconnected. Then fire it up.

Thanks.  I'll do that.  My only concern really was if the lifters weren't working because they had no oil in them would there be a possibility of contact between valve heads and pistons.  I know that the valve spring pulls the valve back up, but I was thinking that if the lifter works slower than usual, the valve could come down late and hit a piston.  But thinking about that now I realize it probably couldn't happen.  My only other concern would be damage to internal valve components by running the head completely dry.  So I'll do the procedure you have said before I start it.

Thanks,

Chris

[hillfolk'r]

yea  a prelube tank is nice,if ya got air,,iuse one at work,,,sometimes a tank is an easy thing to set up so heres what i did,,,,take an old vacuumpump,,and lookwhere the gear engages with the oil pump,pull out that seal,,,then do what you gotta do to remove the shaft with the drive gear from the pump,soyou end upwith the shaft and gear not in the pump bodyi actually used a sawzall to cut the thing in half,right below the main pump part  ,i used an a2 vane pump, for the destruction:twisted: ,,,now grind all the teeth off the gear,clean it up,,,look close theres an oilhole in the shaft,,,,,,iwelded a 1/2 inct nut on the top,,doing 2 things filling the hole,and giving me a hex to drive the shaft with a drill,,,,hell its so easy i now use it on oilchanges,,i dont even bother to fill the filters when i use this,,spin it up to pressure and hold it for a minute or so,,just gotta remove the vacuum pump,,on mycar thats easy,,,, throw the orig. pump backin and fire it up!!!!